Celebrating a centenarian Anne
Tourism: P.E.I. prepares for summer of celebration as Anne of Green Gables turns 100
CAVENDISH, P.E.I. - Anne of Green Gables turns 100 this month, but to millions of fans around the world, she'll always be the spunky, pigtailed 11-year-old who transformed Canada's smallest province into a magical place of dreams and kindred spirits.
Prince Edward Island, the land of Avonlea, is gearing up for a summer of celebration as it marks the centenary of the publication of Lucy Maud Montgomery's greatest novel, Anne of Green Gables.
The book first appeared in April 1908, in a trial run that proved there was an appetite for a story about an orphaned girl who brings happiness and hope to a sleepy corner of bucolic Prince Edward Island.
When Anne of Green Gables was officially launched in June 1908, it quickly became a national and then an international bestseller.
It has never been out of print and, to date, more than 50 million copies have been sold worldwide.
"Anne is part of the fabric of the Island, like the red dirt," says Jack McAndrew, one of the early producers of the musical version of Anne of Green Gables.
"She is certainly the best known thing about P.E.I. Curiously, people tend to regard her not so much as a fictional character, but as a real person . . . She wasn't real, you know."
At the Green Gables historic site in Cavendish, it's difficult to separate reality from fiction.
The Victorian-era farmhouse originally belonged to relatives of Montgomery, and she used it as the model for Green Gables.
Inside, on the second floor, visitors can peek inside Anne's small but tidy room. Her black stockings hang on the foot of her wrought-iron bed and her neat, leather shoes wait nearby.
Are those the same shoes in which she dashed through the Haunted Wood, red pigtails flying, and in which she skipped along Lover's Lane?
Throughout the year, even in the depths of winter, fans of Anne make their pilgrimage to Green Gables - a dream made real.
"You can't help but love Anne," Layla Wheatley of Kelowna, B.C., says wistfully, standing at the doorstep of Green Gables on a warm April afternoon.
Anne has become such an icon in Japan, where the book has been part of the school curriculum since 1952, Japanese could almost be considered a second language in Prince Edward Island.
Young Japanese women often arrive in pairs, eagerly reflecting the "kindred spirits" message of close friendship in the book.
Some, overcome by emotion, break down in tears when they finally set eyes on Green Gables, the home of their heroine.
"The structure of morality in Japan matches the Anne story beautifully," says Betsy Epperly, author of several books about Montgomery, including the recently published, Imagining Anne (Penguin).
"Japan is also an island. And Anne has red hair and grey-green eyes and they cannot have those naturally in Japan. So she is the ultimate exotic."
Epperly herself is proof of the power of Anne's attraction.
Her father read Anne of Green Gables to her when she was a child in Virginia.
Mesmerized by the story and Montgomery's vivid descriptions of tiny, sea-bound Prince Edward Island, she eventually turned her back on the United States and moved to the island.
A noted Anne scholar, she is a former president of the University of Prince Edward island.
"I think there's an orphan in all of us," says Epperly, explaining the enduring appeal of the book.
"We all long for home, and belonging, and we identify with Anne's struggle. In a way, she is the most vulnerable member of any culture - she's an orphan girl in a culture that favours family, connections and men. There she is, but yet she wins everyone over."
Few other literary characters are as closely associated with a place as Anne is to Prince Edward Island.
Epperly says Harry Potter is another character who, like Anne, is completely in sync with his surroundings. But the landscapes of the Potter books are pure fantasy.
Visitors to Prince Edward Island cannot ignore the all-pervasive Anne industry.
Stores stock Anne chocolates, clothing, cups, CDs, DVDs, books, dolls, even straw hats with fake red pigtails and bottles of raspberry cordial.
"I don't know of any other place in Canada where a fictional character is so singularly associated with a place, so closely identified with the province," says David Malahoff of the Anne 2008 organization.
The original Anne of Green Gables musical has been running since 1965 in Charlottetown and now two other musicals are being staged on the island - Anne and Gilbert and The Nine Lives of Lucy Maud Montgomery.
In addition, 2008 marks the publication of the prequel Before Green Gables (Penguin) by Nova Scotia author Budge Wilson.
In her book, Wilson explores Anne's life as an orphan and foster child before she arrives at Green Gables.
She answers one of the biggest mysteries about Anne: How could a child from such a deprived background be so articulate and poised?
In a recent essay on Anne, Canadian author Margaret Atwood said that in reality, an orphaned girl growing up in Victorian-era Canada would have had a difficult time escaping from a life of grinding labour and sexual exploitation.
Atwood believes it's more likely a girl in Anne's situation would have ended up walking the streets and wasting away, thanks to a sexually transmitted disease.
But Wilson argues that such an outcome is not decreed by destiny, that even small factors can make a huge difference.
Wilson said she enjoyed exploring the idea of Anne's early years in Nova Scotia, before she arrives at Green Gables, blessing her with genetic strength from her dead parents and enough love from the people she met to make the difference.
"If you add love to the package and if you add learning and a certain amount of education to that package, you may get something that is a positive product," Wilson says.
More Escapade
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
